Patra chawl case probe: Sanjay Raut channelised unaccounted money through shell companies, says ED

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut routed his unaccounted money through various shell companies opened in the name of his family members and associates his former aide and prime witness in the money laundering case linked to the redevelopment of Patra chawl project told the Enforcement Directorate EDThe statement of the prime witness Swapna Patkar is part of the supplementary charge sheet filed by the ED last week naming Raut as an accused before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act PLMA courtRaut 60 was arrested by the ED on August 1 He is currently in judicial custodyRauts bail plea is scheduled to come up for hearing in the special court on WednesdayThe ED investigation pertains to the alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra chawl in suburban Goregaon in Mumbai and related financial transactions allegedly involving his wife and alleged associatesPatkar told the ED that Raut had established Rauters Entertainment LLP which produced a film titled Thackeray He channelised his unaccounted money into this project He also has other business interests in a liquor company acquired in April 2021Apart from investing the unaccounted money in the abovementioned projects he nowadays started routing his unaccounted money through various shell companies opened in the name of his family members and his associates the witness told EDAlso Read Mumbai court extends Sanjay Rauts judicial custody takes cognisance of EDs supplementary charge sheetIn his statement Raut had claimed he was not associated with any company and that his daughters and wife were running the entertainment companyPatkar stated that Raut had forcibly taken Rs 50 lakh from the profit of her Marathi movie projectThe Marathi movie Balkadu released in January 2015 was a tribute to Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray without expectation of any profit she saidHowever the movie did a good business and generated a net profit of around Rs 60 lakh of which Sanjay Raut took Rs 50 lakh as his share I was forced to issue a cheque of Rs 50 lakh from my bank account The cheque was issued in his name Without giving any contribution to making this movie he took Rs 50 lakh from me forcibly Patkar told EDWhen inquired about properties in Alibaug in Raigad district Patkar said all these properties were acquired from 2010 to 2012These lands were purchased from different land owners The actual cost at the time of registration was minimum Rs 1 crore each land parcel However the registration was done showing a meagre value The amount over and above the registration was paid in cash by Sanjay Raut according to PatkarRaut hails from Alibaug He used his clout to force many owners to sell their land The total value of the land must be approximately Rs 9 to 10 crore whereas the registered value of all these land parcels was aggregating to Rs 51 lakh only she saidOn being asked how she knew that the cash component was involved in all these land deals the witness said her husband Sujit Patkar was coordinating with all the landowners for the cash on behalf of Raut and that she was the witness to many of these discussions between Patkar and landownersThe witness also stated that she came to know from her husband that one of the land owners had been threatened by Raut to sell his plotShe added that a few other lands were purchased at the same site using unaccounted cash and other assets in the name of Rauts wife and family membersRaut used to channel the funds in the guise of an unsecured loan from his associates and relatives He has even taken such loans from his mother brother cousins and others who do not have any source of income to render such loans the witness saidQuestioned about land purchased in Alibaug Patkar said initially Raut wanted to build a resort at the plot However he changed his plan after realising that the land was affected by CRZ Coastal Regulation Zone normsPatkar said she was a columnist with Saamana the Shiv Sena mouthpiece from 2008 to 2014 and earlier helped Raut in writing articles in English She had also assisted him in Rajya Sabharelated worksDuring this period 200814 Patkar claimed to have seen at least two employees of Pravin Raut another accused in the case visiting the Saamana office and handing over money directly to Sanjay RautAccording to the federal antimoney laundering agency Pravin Raut was acting as a front man for Sanjay RautOn the Patra chawl project the witness told the ED that during 200809 residents of the area had approached senior NCP leader Sharad Pawar through local politicians for the redevelopment of the chawl tenementAfter various meetings Sanjay Raut and Pravin Raut along with Rakesh Wadhawan of HDIL Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd were asked to handle the project she saidIn this project there was an understanding between Sanjay Raut and Pravin Raut wherein the latter was the proxy the witness saidAs part of the understanding Pravin Raut was acting on the behalf of Sanjay Raut He was giving Rs 2 lakh per month to Sanjay Raut from the money received from HDIL she addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever